If you spend too much time on social media, you’ll eventually hear the corner of New Jersey Devils fandom that complains that their favorite team isn’t tough enough. It comes up for other teams, too. It was a big thing in Toronto until the Maple Leafs started signing guys like Max Domi and Ryan Reaves for way too much money. Trying to force toughness doesn’t really work.
The Devils even tried to do this last season. They replaced Alexander Holtz in the lineup with Paul Cotter. He ended up breaking the franchise record for hits. They also added Brenden Dillon to the defense, and he brought big hits, especially early in the season. Other additions who were hitting at a high level include Stefan Noesen (152 hits), Johnny Kovacevic (102 hits), and Tomas Tatar (56 hits).
Despite the statistics, most will still say this team is soft. Well, a new analysis of the toughness of teams shows that plenty of teams are below the Devils in toughness. The Rotowire Aggressiveness Analysis ranked the Devils tied for 17th based on their metrics. It was a simple equation that looked at how often a team hit and fought during the season.
The Florida Panthers were high in the rankings, finishing fourth. Many will point to their aggressiveness as a reason they won back-to-back Stanley Cups.
However, seeing who is at the top of that list hurts that argument. Ahead of the Panthers are the Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, and Nashville Predators. Those three teams were, along with the New York Rangers, the biggest disappointments in the NHL last season. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the list was the Dallas Stars, a team that’s been to three straight Western Conference Finals. The Edmonton Oilers, who went to the Stanley Cup Final, were second-to-last.
The Devils finished exactly tied with the Carolina Hurricanes, the team that mollywhopped them in the playoffs.
What can we take from this analysis? We can see that hitting has to be done as a strategic factor to one’s offensive and defensive game plan. We saw under Lindy Ruff when the Devils weren’t hitting at all that teams were skating right through them. Nobody had trouble entering the zone against the Devils.
Sheldon Keefe clearly wants hits to be a part of the plan, but it can’t be the whole plan. Hitting players means you don’t have possession. The Devils need to prioritize possession more this season and utilize their new speed to create offense.